CFMA: Unifying a Team Creates Clear Focus
How the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA) created a more focused organization by unifying leadership and staff to a single direction and language.
CONTACT USThe Challenge:
As the entire construction industry evolves, CFMA realized the need to adapt to meet the shifting needs of its members. Unifying a team to a pursue a set of clear priorities and Key Performance Indicators was the missing puzzle piece in helping meet its members’ needs.
The Outcome:
An aligned leadership team, working together in pursuit of clearly defined goals. The team has a shared vision of the future and specific, measurable performance indicators for tracking progress against their goals.
The Vision:
Every financial manager in every construction company is connected with CFMA.
The Approach:
The construction industry and the role of finance professionals within it has shifted dramatically in recent years. New technologies, access to data and financial market trends are changing the way construction industry financial professionals do their job.
To stay relevant and continue having an impact, the CFMA needed to act with intention. The organization needed greater agility and focus on managing positive member impact. Defining its priorities and aligning its leadership team around these priorities is important for the CFMA’s continued success.
Taking specific, intentional action to bring their vision to life would be crucial to the CFMA. OnStrategy worked with CFMA to build a shared commitment within the leadership team and help them work together to set, monitor and achieve their key performance indicators.
- Plan Architecture & Refinement: OnStrategy’s outsourced Chief Strategy Officer worked with CFMA”s senior leadership to refine the architecture, quality, ownership and accountability of their existing strategic plan.
- OnStrategy Application: CFMA uses the OnStrategy application to manage progress, data, and to report on the momentum of their strategic plan.
- Performance Management Process: OnStrategy worked with CFMA leadership to create a structured and sustainable approach to executing their strategic plan, with monthly plan performance reviews.
- Monthly Strategy Review Facilitation: An outsourced Chief Strategy Officer from OnStrategy remotely facilitates performance review meetings to ensure the team is having constructive, strategic conversations and adapting the plan without derailing the organization’s priorities.
The Deliverables
In addition to working with CFMA to create a disciplined approach to sharing progress, OnStrategy also created a suite of custom materials to support the CFMA’s ongoing strategic planning work. These deliverables include:
- Annual Strategic Plan with Measures & Performance Targets: An annual organizational strategic plan with key performance indicators and measurable targets to validate their progress against their plan.
- Monthly Strategy Review Agenda: A custom approach to holding monthly conversations around the strategic plan and the organization’s performance against achieving its goals.
The Results
Working with their OnStrategy CSO, CFMA created greater clarity to the organization’s core priorities. Having a clearly defined, actionable strategic plan aligned the leadership team in pursuit of shared goals.
Executing against their plan, with regular communication among the team, the organization has been able to more effectively communicate progress against goals. Additionally, the organization has enhanced its educational content, increased its member satisfaction rates and created stronger support for CFMA chapters.
- Greater Focus: CFMA’s leadership have clarity regarding the organization’s priorities, agree on what needs to be done to achieve them, and are aligned on the reasons why.
- Clear Reporting: Structured, standard reporting allows everyone to know what metrics they own, what they’re responsible for achieving and when and how they are sharing performance updates.
- More Productive Meetings: With a carefully constructed agenda and specific approach to meetings, the leadership team can focus their time on celebrating progress, discussing hurdles and seeking support from the team in a productive, strategic manner.
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